Escalator etiquette

[telophase]

Crossposted from Glamorous in Retrospect. Author: Stephanie.

I knew from my previous trip to Japan that you stand on the left side of the escalator, leaving the right side free for people who want to walk up. Except for Osaka, in which the standing and walking sides are flipped, which leads to rousing games of Spot the Osakan in Tokyo Station and elsewhere.

I also engage in another game when on the escalator, this one titled I’m Not With Those Asshole Gaijin Blocking The Entire Escalator.

Something I hadn’t noticed about Japanese escalator etiquette on my previous trip is one person = one stair. I have only seen one Japanese (I assume) person standing with one foot on the step in front of them, which is common in the USA,

Sent from my TRS-80

Comments

[solarbird]

Okay okay okay so, I was in Nara? I'd been in Japan a chunk of the summer and was doing a little touring around before heading back, with friends from North America. And we were in this cute little museum of antique toys, it was in an historic district and generally really quaint and interesting. And we're looking at one display and suddenly we notice coming from down some stairs a bit back in the museum some really loud people, but unlike! most of the Really Loud People, they weren't speaking English, they were speaking Japanese.

Paul and I look at each other and go, "...I wonder if they're from Osaka?" And Paul is wearing a Seattle Mariner's cap, and when their little group bursts up the stairwell on the wrong side, they look at Paul and shout "ICHIRO!" and start talking at us.

Needless to say... they were in fact from Osaka. XD

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

In New York City, we use Osaka escalator rules, so.... We're all over the place on how many steps you're allowed to stand on at once though.